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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
1. Last Beijing 2022 figure skating appeal hearing on 22nd
2. Paris 2024 claims Olympic ticket sales record
3. Hassan will try 1,500-5,000-10,000-marathon quad in Paris
4. Teen sprint star Asinga sues Gatorade over doping ban
5. Japanese ad firm fined $1.26 million in bid-rigging scandal
● What is expected to be the final appeal in the endless Beijing 2022 figure skating Team Event drama is scheduled for 22 July, with Canadian appellants asking the Court of Arbitration for Sport to re-score the event and give them the bronze medal. Assuming a fairly quick decision is made on the three Russian appeals and this one, a 9 August medal ceremony in Paris is possible.
● Paris 2024 organizing committee chief Tony Estanguet claimed victory, with news that more than 8.6 million tickets have been sold for the upcoming Olympic Games, the most ever, surpassing the 8.3 million in Atlanta in 1996.
● The Netherlands’ entries for track & field in Paris show distance star Sifan Hassan – the defending Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 5,000 and 10,000 m – declared in an astonishing four events: the 1,500 m, 5,000 m, 10,000 m and marathon!
● Issam Asinga, the Suriname sensation who set a world U-20 record of 9.89 in the 100 m in 2023 was disqualified and banned for four years for doping in May. He filed suit in a U.S. Federal Court on Wednesday against the Gatorade Company, alleging that the Gatorade gummies he ate at a July meet were contaminated with the drug he tested positive for. It’s complicated.
● The first sanctions in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic test-event and venue-management bid-rigging scandal came down, with the Hakuhodo advertising agency and its former chief executive found guilty, with the company fined ¥200 million and a suspended sentence for the executive. More sentences are expected to follow for the other five companies involved.
● Panorama: Paris 2024: (2: massive “Club France” can welcome 700,000 during the Games; Panam Sports training camp opens Sunday) = Anti-Doping (IOC backs WADA over Chinese swimming doping case) = Athletics (3: Monaco Diamond League on Friday; 776 Invitational renamed, coming 26 September; more AIU suspensions) = Curling (Russian and Belarusian ban maintained) = Cycling (2: Girmay wins again in Tour de France as Roglic falls; Longo Borghini still in front – barely – in Giro Donne) = Football (Euro 2024 and Copa America finals on Sunday) ●
● Errata: Apologies for a bad error on Thursday! Some readers saw a headline that said Uruguay advanced to the Copa America final; it was Colombia! Readers who chimed in on several Olympians and the number of Games they have participated in may note that the USOPC follows the IOC protocol: they will be four-time or five-time (or whatever) Olympians once they actually compete in Paris, but not before. Thanks to Jim Bendat, Alan Mazursky, Sheri Rhodes and Mike Unger for helpful comments and questions. ●
1.
Last Beijing 2022 figure skating appeal hearing on 22nd
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has scheduled – as promised – the last appeal hearing related to the Beijing 2022 figure skating Team Event for Monday, 22 July 2024.
This is the mass appeal by Canada, announced on 11 June and formally:
Madeline Schizas, Piper Gilles, Paul Poirier, Kirsten Moore-Towers, Michael Marinaro, Eric Radford, Vanessa James and Roman Sadovsky, and, Skate Canada, and Canadian Olympic Committee (COC)
vs.
International Skating Union (ISU), and, International Olympic Committee (IOC), and Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), and Figure Skating Federation of Russia, and, Aleksandr Galliamov, Victoria Sinitsina, Anastasia Mishina, Nikita Katsalapov, Kamila Valieva and Mark Kondratiuk
This appeal asks the Court of Arbitration for Sport to rule on the ISU’s re-ranking of the results from 30 January – highly questioned at the time, and since – and to place the U.S. first, Japan second and advance Canada to third, based on the ISU’s competition and anti-doping rules in place at the time of the Beijing Winter Games.
The ISU, in its re-ranking, subtracted the 20 points won by Valieva for first places in the women’s Short Program and Free Skate before she was (eventually) disqualified for doping. That brought down the Russian score from 74 to 54, behind the U.S. (65) and Japan (63). However, the Canadians point to ISU rules which specifically require a re-ranking to elevate the placement (and points won) by athletes impacted by the disqualification of an athlete ranked above them.
By doing this, Canada would earn an additional point in both the women’s Short Program and Free Skate and would have 55 points, to 54 for Russia, and thus the bronze medal.
The three appeals from Russia, to essentially ignore Valieva’s disqualifications and retain Russia was the gold-medal winners, have already been heard, but no decision has been announced.
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, working in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee, is planning to have the medal ceremony for at least the U.S. team in Paris at the Champions Park, on 9 August, along with other medal re-allocation ceremonies from other Games.
All of the appellants are expecting a decision on all four appeals from the Court of Arbitration for Sport quickly after the hearing on the 22nd, and while there is a further possibility of appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, the grounds available to change the CAS decision are so limited that the 9 August program would likely go forward as hoped for with a prompt announcement of the appeal outcomes.
2.
Paris 2024 claims Olympic ticket sales record
“We are at 8.6 million tickets for the Olympics, and over one million for the Paralympics.”
That’s Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet, explaining to Agence France Presse that the organizing committee now has the record for the most tickets sold for an Olympic Games. He added:
“It’s a record held by the 1996 Atlanta Games of 8.3 million tickets, and we’ve already passed that total now some time ago.”
According to a Statista chart published Tuesday (9th) from data provided by the International Olympic Committee, the Paris total surpasses Atlanta 1996 and London 2012 for selling the most tickets at a Games:
● 8.6 million: Paris 2024 (so far; of 10 million available)
● 8.3 million: Atlanta 1996 (of 11 million available)
● 8.2 million: London 2012 (of 8.5 million)
● 6.7 million: Sydney 2000 (of 7.6 million)
● 6.5 million: Beijing 2008 (of 6.8 million)
Paris 2024 has also sold one million Paralympic tickets out of 2.8 million available.
The Paris organizers continue to sell, with special offers debuted every Thursday.
3.
Hassan will try 1,500-5,000-10,000-marathon quad in Paris
Never one to shy from trying the impossible, Dutch distance star Sifan Hassan has been entered by the Netherlands in an unheard-of four events for the Paris 2024 Games: the women’s 1,500 m, 5,000 m, 10,000 m and the marathon.
She is the defending Olympic champion in the 5 and 10, she won World Championships golds in the 1,500 and 10,000 in 2019 and she won both the London and Chicago marathons in 2023!
Her schedule will be ridiculous, but is limited to one race per day:
● 02 August: 5,000 m heats
● 03 August: 1,500 m heats
● 05 August: 5,000 m final
● 08 August: 1,500 semifinals
● 09 August: 10,000 m final
● 10 August: 1,500 m final
● 11 August: Marathon
There’s one rest day between the 1,500 m heats and the 5,000 m final and two days off between the 5,000 m final and the 1,500 m semis. But Hassan has also not shown her 2021 or 2023 form this season.
She has raced six times in 2024, starting with a fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Marathon on 3 March in 2:18:05, no. 9 on the world list for 2024. Since then:
● 11 May: 1st in 5,000 m (14:58.83) in Eagle Rock, California
● 25 May: 7th in 5,000 m (14:34.38) at Prefontaine Classic
● 09 June: 1st in 5,000 m (14:43.85) at Portland Track Festival
● 09 June: 4th in 1,500 m (4:08.22) at Portland Track Festival
● 07 July: 5th in 1,500 m (4:04.83) at FBK Games
She ranks 67th on the 2024 world list at 1,500 m and 11th on the 5,000 m list. Her last 10,000 m was in 2023, when she finished 11th at the World Championships in Budapest (HUN).
Hassan would, at present, not appear to be a medal contender in any of her four events, but has to be taken seriously in the longer races. She was passed by four runners on the final turn in the 1,500 m in the FBK Games last Sunday in Hengelo (NED).
But she is always dangerous.
4.
Teen sprint star Asinga sues Gatorade over doping ban
At the 2023 South American Championships in Sao Paulo (BRA) last July, 18-year-old Issam Asinga of Suriname won the 100 m in a world U-20 record of 9.89 and the 200 m in 20.19, after running 19.97 earlier in the season.
He has not competed since and on 27 May of this year, the Athletics Integrity Unit banned him for four years after he tested positive for GW1516 – a.k.a. cardarine – a “Hormone and Metabolic Modulator” which is prohibited under the World Anti-Doping Code.
According to the AIU announcement:
● “Asinga, a US resident, argued the positive test resulted from a contaminated product, Gatorade Recovery Gummies for Athletes, which he was given at a ceremony in the USA on 10 July 2023 after winning the Gatorade National Boys Track and Field Player-of-the-Year. However, the Disciplinary Tribunal said Asinga “did not succeed in establishing, by a balance of probability, that the Gatorade Recovery Gummies were the source of the GW1516 metabolites detected in his Sample of 18 July 2023.’”
● “In making its decision, among other matters, the Disciplinary Tribunal took into account the fact that the Gatorade Recovery Gummies provided in unsealed containers by the athlete for testing contained significantly more GW1516 on the outside than on the inside, which practically excludes any contamination by raw ingredients during the manufacturing process; that the Gatorade Recovery Gummies were batch-tested by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) and were credited with the NSF Certified for Sport certificate; and that a sealed jar of Gatorade Recovery Gummies, from the exact same batch taken by Asinga, tested negative by the Lausanne anti-doping laboratory.”
Nevertheless, Asinga, who was born in Atlanta, has filed suit against The Gatorade Company, a division of PepsiCo, claiming that the “Gatorade Recovery Gummies” provided to him were not certified and “had been made using shoddy manufacturing processes, and were contaminated with trace amounts of an illegal performance-enhancing drug.”
Gatorade responded to Reuters with a statement that included:
“The product in question is completely safe and the claims made are false.
“Gatorade products are FDA compliant and safe for athlete consumption, which was validated by the findings of the Athletics Integrity Unit investigation.
“Gatorade fully complied with the Athletics Integrity Unit investigation, including producing evidence that was accepted by the AIU that the gummies were not contaminated with the banned substance in their original ruling.”
An important intervening factor in the case between the AIU’s sanctions in May and the new lawsuit was a disclosure from the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) on 4 June that the lot numbers of the gummies taken by Asinga “have been found in the public domain bearing the NSF Certified for Sport Mark without authorization. These specific lot numbers, for these products, have not been tested, evaluated or certified by NSF and are not authorized to use the NSF certification mark or make any claims of NSF certification.”
So now the discovery process will begin to try and figure out exactly what was and was not in the lots which ended up being used by Asinga. This is going to take time.
The suit was filed on Wednesday (10th) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, case no. 7:2024cv05210.
5.
Japanese ad firm fined $1.26 million in bid-rigging scandal
The first sanction against a major Japanese advertising agency involved in the Tokyo 2020 bid-rigging scandal came down Thursday, with Hakuhodo, Inc. fined ¥200 million (about $1.26 million U.S.) by a Tokyo District Court.
In addition, the former head of the Hakuhodo DY Sports Marketing, Kenichiro Yokomizo, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but with the sentence suspended for three years. Yokomizo was held to have helped coordinate the bids for test event operations and later for venue management with Tokyo 2020 staff member Yasuo Mori, the “inside man” in the collusion effort.
Japan’s Kyodo News reported:
“According to the ruling, Hakuhodo and Yokomizo colluded with Mori and others in deciding between around February and July 2018 which companies would be awarded contracts to plan test events and run the actual tournaments.
“In the case, six companies, including Hakuhodo rival Dentsu Group Inc., along with Mori and six other individuals, have been indicted for bid-rigging the contracts worth around 43.7 billion yen” (about $275.15 million U.S.).
The first group of contracts were awarded in 2018 for Tokyo 2020 test events in 2018 and 2019, before the postponement of the Games to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After the test events – which were mostly delayed – the companies were awarded much larger contracts to manage the involved venues during the Olympic competitions.
With this first conviction and sanctions, similar or larger fines and prison terms will be expected against the other five companies involved in the bid-rigging.
These proceedings are separate from the sponsorship bribery scandal, in which multiple companies paid former Dentsu senior director and Tokyo 2020 Executive Committee member Haruyuki Takahashi a combined ¥198 million (about $1.25 million) for favorable treatment in getting Tokyo 2020 licenses as sponsors or suppliers. He has admitted receiving money, but says it was for legitimate consulting services.
≡ PANORAMA ≡
● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● A massive demonstration of French sport is being organized for Paris at the “Club France,” in the Parc de la Villette area in northeastern sector of the city, where a dozen other “national houses” will also be located, including Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands.
A FrancsJeux.com interview disclosed the outdoor footprint as an astonishing 40,000 sq. m (about 410,000 sq. ft.) with demonstration areas for archery, football and other sports with another 15,000 sq. m (about 154,000 sq. ft.) indoors with hospitality areas, viewing lounges and more.
Tickets are €5 for the public, with 120,000 sold already and a capacity of 700,000 during the Games. France Television will have two live-camera sets on the property and Eurosport will have one. French medal winners will come to meet with local media and with sponsors and fans.
¶
The Paris 2024 Panam Sports training camp for 31 of its 41 member National Olympic Committees will open on Sunday, with 135 athletes expected to prepare at Mulhouse-Alsace, about three hours from Paris, and operate through 4 August.
Organized by the Panam Sports confederation, athletes in 15 sports – aquatics (swimming), archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, gymnastics (artistic), judo, rowing, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball (beach), weightlifting, and wrestling – will be preparing.
Panam Sports will broadcast a daily, 30-minute program on the Panam Sports Channel with highlights and interviews from the training site.
● Anti-Doping ● The International Olympic Committee said in a statement provided to Reuters that it backs the World Anti-Doping Agency’s actions in the 2021 Chinese swimming doping inquiry, based on the summary report provided by former Swiss regional attorney general Eric Cottier this week.
“Based on this report, the IOC reaffirms its full confidence in WADA and its leadership, who have implemented a number of initiatives that have strengthened the system in recent years.
“The only remaining questions are therefore procedural ones. The IOC took note of the fact that WADA has already committed to addressing any such procedural recommendations that may be included in the final report.
“The IOC appeals to all stakeholders to respect the supreme authority of WADA in the fight against doping. This respect forms the basis on which WADA was founded by the governments of the world and the Olympic Movement.
“This respect is essential for any fair international competition.”
The IOC provides approximately 50% of WADA’s annual budget.
● Athletics ● The Wanda Diamond League moves to Monaco on Friday for the annual Meeting Herculis, the next-to-last meet prior to the Olympic break, with the main portion of the program from 2-4 p.m. Eastern time.
The highlight should be the men’s 400 m hurdles, with Olympic champion Karsten Warholm (NOR), 2022 World Champion Alison dos Santos (BRA) and world leader Rai Benjamin of the U.S. all entered.
St. Lucia sprint star Julien Alfred is in the women’s 100 m, 1:41 performers Djamel Sedjati (ALG) and Gabriel Tual (FRA) – plus American Bryce Hoppel – are in the men’s 800 m, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and American Yared Nuguse are entered in the men’s 1,500 m, World Champion Grant Holloway of the U.S. is in the 110 m hurdles and Olympic champ Katie Moon is in the women’s vault.
¶
The women-only 776 Invitational, funded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, has changed its name to Athlos NYC, with many more details now available.
The meet will be held on 26 September 2024 at Icahn Stadium in New York, featuring six events: the women’s 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1,500 m and 100 m hurdles, with six athletes per race. Prize money will be $60,000-25,000-10,000-8,000-5,000-2,500 for the six places, so $663,000 total for the meet.
In addition to the already-announced Gabby Thomas in the 200 m, World Mixed 4×400 m gold medalist Alexis Holmes has been confirmed, along with Kenyan superstar (and world record holder) Faith Kipyegon for the 1,500 m.
¶
The Athletics Integrity Unit kept up its sanctions drumbeat on Thursday, imposing a three-year sanction on Kenyan Lucy Karimi (now 37, 2:24:24 marathon in 2021) for the use of Erythropoietin (EPO); a three-year ban on Mexico’s Jose Eduardo Rodriguez (26, four-time national Steeple champion) for use of the anabolic steroid Boldenone, and a provisional suspension of Youssef Taoussi (Spain, 29, 3:36.81 1,500 m in 2024) for blood-production booster Roxadustat.
● Curling ● Announced on Thursday:
“Following a meeting of the World Curling Board, the decision was taken to extend the exclusion of Russia and Belarus from competing at World Curling events until 31 December 2024.”
World Curling, like most other International Federations, imposed sanctions on Russia and Belarus shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
● Cycling ● The mostly-downhill 12th stage of the 111th Tour de France concluded with the expected mass sprint after 203.6 km to Villeneuve-sur-Lot, with Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay winning his third stage of the race in 4:17:15. He got to the line ahead of Wout van Aert (BEL) and Pascal Ackermann (GER), with the top 68 riders given the same time.
However, contender Primoz Roglic (SLO), the three-time Vuelta a Espana winner, suffered another bad crash, this one about 12 km left and was one of several riders who went down after a rider in front of them collided with a road sign.
Roglic was able to re-start, but finished 120th in the stage, 2:27 behind and lost significant time behind leader Tadej Pogacar (SLO), falling from fourth to sixth. The top three were unchanged, with Pogacar leading Remco Evenepoel (BEL) by 1:06 and two-time defending champ Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) by 1:14. No one else is within four minutes.
Friday’s 165.3 km 13th stage to Pau is hilly, before two climbing stages on Saturday (151.9 km) and Sunday (197.97 km), both with uphill finishes. Sunday’s stage features six climbs and could be decisive, with only two more climbing stages in the race’s final week.
¶
Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky won stage 5 of the 8-stage Giro d’Italia Donne, edging Chiara Consonni (ITA) and Arlenis Sierra (CUB) at the end of the 108 km ride to Foligno. Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini continues in the overall lead, but just three seconds up on Kopecky and 38 seconds ahead of Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (DEN).
The race finishes on Sunday in L’Aquila.
● Football ● The finals of the UEFA Euro 2024 and the 48th Copa America, being played in the U.S. for the second time, come on Sunday, 14 July.
First up us the Euro 2024 final in Berlin’s Olympiastadion between three-time champion Spain and England, in its second straight Euro final, at 3 p.m. Eastern. The Copa America final in Miami Gardens, Florida features defending champ Argentina and 2001 winner Colombia, at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Underdog Colombia is in its third Copa America final, while the Argentines are in their 30th!
¶
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